Why should my baby have PAL® therapy?
PAL® therapy is designed to encourage and reinforce your baby’s non-nutritive sucking by providing positive auditory feedback in the form of musical lullabies or your voice in direct response to effective sucking – sucking endurance, bursts, strength, and pacing.
Encouraging and reinforcing non-nutritive sucking is important because unlike full term babies, premature infants often come into this world before they have a chance to develop the ability to suck effectively.
Non-nutritive sucking, typically is not fully developed in babies less than 37 weeks gestation (premature). Without the sucking ability, an infant must be fed through a feeding tube. Non-nutritive sucking also helps your baby to self-soothe. Premature infants in the NICU often undergo daily medical procedures that, while necessary, can be painful and stressful. Using a device that is pleasurable for the infant while reinforcing development of a premature infant’s sucking skills will be a valuable addition to your baby’s NICU care.
When should my baby receive PAL® therapy?
Your baby should be approximately 34 weeks corrected gestational age (GA) and approved for oral feeding trials. Your baby may qualify for PAL® therapy if your baby:
- Shows little motivation to suck
- Exhibits a weak suck
- Experiences early fatigue during PO feeds
- Demonstrates frantic, short sucking bursts followed by fatigue during PO feeds
- Is not having success with PO feeds
How is PAL® Therapy administered?
PAL® therapy is administered by a licensed NICU nurse or therapist. PAL® therapy should be administered for 15 minutes once or twice daily depending on the GA of the infant.
NICU Nurses & Parents whose babies have used PAL® have said:
- A Mother’s Voice Helps Smallest Babies
- Healing with a mother’s voice
- Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Videos
Collateral
- Product Brochure
- Pediatrics, Vanderbilt Medical School Research Study abstract
Additional Questions: ASK our clinical specialists:
- Dana, Neonatal Speech Language Pathologist – dh@107.180.41.252